Five teenagers arrested in counter terrorism raids were allegedly
planning IS-inspired attacks on police at Anzac Day events in Melbourne.
Senior
police confirmed the men, aged between 18 and 19 from Melbourne’s
southeast, were associates of Numan Haider, who was shot dead by police
in Endeavour Hills last year after stabbing two officers.Australian
Federal Police acting Deputy Commissioner Neil Gaughan also confirmed
some of the men had attended the Al Furqan Information Centre in
Springvale, which has been investigated by counter terrorism detectives
in the past.

Two of the men, both 18 from Hallam and Hampton
Park, were arrested on terror-related offence, while a third 18-year-old
from Narre Warren was arrested on weapons offences.
“(The first
two men) are likely to be charged with a number of offences relating to
preparing for and acting on an terrorist act and possessing prohibited
items,” Deputy Commissioner Gaughan told reporters on Saturday morning.

Two men, aged 18 and 19 from Narre Warren, are also in custody assisting police.
More
than 200 officers were involved in executing seven search warrants at
properties in Narre Warren, Hampton Park, Hallam and Eumemmerring early
on Saturday morning.
Investigations began in late March but escalated to Saturday’s raids based on information received earlier this week.
Both
the AFP and Victoria Police have declined to give specifics of the
alleged planned attacks, saying they’re still investigating.
“We
would describe (the targets) as Anzac activities in general …
activities in the Melbourne area,” Victoria Police acting Deputy
Commissioner Shane Patton said.
“I will say the attacks related to edged weapons.”
Australian Federal Police and Victoria state police say the suspects
include two 18-year-olds they allege were preparing Isis-inspired
attacks on police and another 18-year-old arrested on weapons charges.
Two others, aged 18 and 19, from Narre Warren are in custody and
assisting police.
The five were arrested yesterday morning in
Melbourne. A joint counter-terrorism team involving more than 200
officers executed seven search warrants at properties in Narre Warren,
Hampton Park, Hallam and Eumemmerring early yesterday morning.
Investigations began in late March but escalated to yesterday’s raids based on information received last week.
Victoria
police Acting Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton said investigations
indicated the alleged attacks were imminent and also posed a risk to the
public.

“We believe the attacks could have occurred at any time in
the next week,” he said. “The risk to police by edged weapons was
essentially a similar risk to the public.
“We would describe [the targets] as Anzac activities in general … activities in the Melbourne area.”
But police said the threat had been contained and members of the public should not feel anxious.
Patton
also emphasised the men involved were individuals acting by themselves.
“They are not representative of any religious, cultural or national
group,” he said.
“I think that’s a very important thing that we need to identify.”
Australian
Federal Police Acting Deputy Commissioner Neil Gaughan said two of the
men were likely to be charged with a number of offences relating to
preparing for and acting on a terrorist act and possessing prohibited
items.
The AFP and Victoria police have declined to give specifics of the alleged planned attacks, saying they’re still investigating.
Senior
police confirmed the five men were associates of Numan Haider, who was
shot dead by police in Endeavour Hills last year after stabbing two
officers.
Gaughan said some of the men had attended the Al Furqan
Information Centre in Springvale, which has been investigated by
counterterrorism detectives.
The men had been on the police radar
since last month. Two of the suspects sustained minor injuries during
their arrest. “Information we have leads us to believe that this
particular matter was Isis-inspired,” Gaughan said.